To Block a Cloche

The CLOCHE is one of my favorite hat shapes. This grey felt cloche with a flower trim is blocked as a one piece instead of a crown and a brim.

The crown block is pushed down inside the brim block as the last picture shows.

Sounds tricky but with a little patience you can produce a really lovely shape.

Once the felt is taken off the block you can then steam the brim wider, then trim into any shape you desire.

A brim reed is stitched around the brim edge to keep it in shape.

Little Red Cloche

This lovely red fine straw cloche hat is a real winner in the cute stakes, so far just about everyone popping into the shop has fallen in love with it.
I also made one in cream but that went to a wedding in California a while ago.
I took this photograph for my new web site which is slowly making progress.
My friend Clare Lupino looked so good in this shot I decided to post it on the blog first.